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The Outrageous Okona
' |image= |series= |production=40272-130 |producer(s)= |story=Les Menchen Lance Dickson David Landsberg |script=Burton Armus |director=Robert Becker |imdbref=tt0708816 |guests= |previous_production=Elementary, Dear Data |next_production=The Schizoid Man |episode=TNG B04 |airdate=10 December 1988 |previous_release=Elementary, Dear Data |next_release=Loud as a Whisper |story_date(s)=Stardate 42402.7 |previous_story=Elementary, Dear Data |next_story=Loud as a Whisper }} =Summary= While traveling though the Omega Sattiga system, the Enterprise comes to the aid of a trader captain, Thaduin Okona, whose ship is in need of repairs. The roguish Okona's quick wit and charm make him quite popular among the crew... especially the female members (if you know what I mean). Just about the only person unaffected is Data, who fails to grasp the visitor's humor and thus seeks assistance first from Guinan and then from a holodeck comedy program. It's not long, though, before the ship faces a small problem. Two small, interplanetary vessels approach and lock their laser weapons on the Enterprise. The vessels hail from the nearby twin planets of Straleb and Atlec, and each planet's leader has a bone to pick with Okona: Straleb's ruler, Debin, accuses Okona of impregnating his daughter, and Atlec's ruler, Kushell, charges that Okona has stolen that planet's sacred Jewel of Thesia. Both parties demand that Okona be turned over to them... or else. Though the ships present little threat to the Enterprise, Picard knows that he cannot give the man up to only one of the sides without a fight breaking out. He thus begins to formulate a plan for Okona to escape, but after a talk with Wesley, Okona decides to turn himself in. Picard invites both parties to beam over in an effort to solve the dispute. However, instead of confessing, Okona plies Kushell's son, Benzan, to reveal the entire plot. Benzan was the one who got Debin's daughter pregnant; they planned to marry and the jewel was intended as a nuptial vow. Thus Okona is released and the two sides are left to figure out how to proceed following the news. Data heads back to the holodeck in order to try out some jokes but the effort does not go well. But back on the bridge, while saying goodbye to Okona, Data unintentionally spouts a Gracie Allen nugget and the bridge crew cracks up. =Errors and Explanations= Plot Oversights # Does it strike anyone else as odd that Data goes to Guinan for advice on humor? True, Whoopi Goldberg is a comic, but Guinan? Perhaps Data considers her to have a unique perspective, which will provide him with greater insight. Rodney Hrvatin Nit Central entry for Sunday, September 19, 1999 - 4:37 pm: How do we know?? We see her humor streak in a few episodes (The Dauphin comes to mind). She is an old woman apparently, she hangs out with Uncle Turkel ("The only one with a sense of humor"). I think she would be as good as any. Continuity and Production Problems # The background of the vessel that carries the delegation from Altec looks suspiciously like the main viewer on the battle bridge. Possibly an emergency viewscreen. Nit Central # Keith Alan Morgan on Thursday, May 13, 1999 - 6:16 am: So Altec & Straleb are both part of the Coalition of Madena in the Omega Sagitta system. The proper name for a star in the constellation Sagitta is Sagittae. ' Omega Sagitta could be the offical local name for the system.' # The Enterprise is supposed to be intercepting the Erstwhile, but the scene shows the Enterprise traveling in a straight line while Okona's ship turns to come up behind the Enterprise. Also who was controlling the Erstwhile? When the main viewer first shows Okona he is facing away and bent over working on his ship. I suppose that could be where his controls are, but it seems like an uncomfortable way to fly a ship. Okona could be using an emergency autopilot. # Why did Riker make such a big deal about Wesley lining the ship up right, when all they are doing is grabbing it with a tractor beam? If they were attempting to dock then I could understand the fuss, but many episodes have shown tractor beams capable of grabbing objects anywhere around the ship. He dosn't want to risk overstressing the other ship's hull. # Several times in this episode Picard uses a gesture to tell Worf to mute the main veiwscreen. So why in the next episode will Worf react to sign language as if he is unfamiliar with "gestural language?" Perhaps Worf is unfamilier with the concept of hand gestures being used in place of speech. # Teral on Friday, July 20, 2001 - 4:03 pm: The post as chief of security gives some neat privileges. When Worf goes to collect Okona, after the Straleb's and Altec's show up, he just storms into the quarter where Okona is. If it's the crewmembers quarters he goes into, it's extremely rude just to waltz right in, and it also has to be illegal. If it's Okona's quarters it really wouldn't make any difference, it would still be rude and illegal. Not necessarily - it's an emergency, and he is acting under da direct order from the captain.R on Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 8:52 pm: It's not illegal. The right to privacy is much more limited in Starfleet when ship's security is involved. Tuvok read people's mail from home in 'Repression'. He would have the right to enter people's quarters to apprehend someone. Acting ensign crusher (Acting_ensign_crusher) on Sunday, August 31, 2008 - 11:21 am: The right to privacy is limted in any military when a ships security is involved. Don F (TNG Moderator) (Dferguson) on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 7:26 am: I suppose technically speaking the ship's security was involved, there were alien ships "threatening" the Enterprise so Okona was needed ASAP to resolve the matter. # After Okona agrees to go see Picard and leave the room Worf gives the crewmember a quite angry/disapproving look. Why, she didn't do anything wrong. Worf may disapprove of blatant fratenisation. Category:The Next Generation Category:Episodes